Mainz, April 4, 2013: They came from all over Europe and gathered at Mainz, Germany for their annual Inter-European Order of Preachers (IEOP) meeting. They are the Prior Provincials and Vicars of the Provinces and Vicariates of Europe. They were about 33 of them and they were hosted by the German Province of Teutonia. Their gathering is reminiscence of a mini World Summit with the major languages of the world fully represented.

They were joined by the team from Santa Sabina led by the Master of the Order himself, fr Bruno Cadoré OP. Included in that team were; fr Vivan Boland (Vicar to the Master and Socius for Northwestern Europe and Canada), Wojciech Delik (Socius of Central and Eastern Europe), Bernardino Prella (Socius for the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Malta), Michael Mascari (Socius for Intellectual Life), Dominic Izzo (Director of the Solidarity Fund) and Prakash Lohale (Socius for Apostolic Life).

In their meetings and discussions, the brothers reflected on the Second Vatican Council and the challenges it possess for the Order today, especially in Europe. They were honoured with the presence of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Archbishop of Mainz who shared with them on the new approach to the relationship between the Church and the World. The French Dominican, fr. Hervé Legrand OP of the Catholic Institute of Paris spoke on evangelization as promoted by Vatican II and how the Order can face its challenges today. The German Dominican fr. Ulrich Engel OP of M-Dominique Chenu Institute, Berlin also spoke on the inspiration of Vatican II for the Dominicans in Europe. (www.op.org)